Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A word being offensive or not all depends on the context that it is being used. It does not matter to me if the term redskin is offensive or not because I am not a native American. It is not my call to determine what is offensive to another group of people. If they say it is offensive to them I have to accept the fact that it is offensive. I'm not sure why this issue is so hard to understand. You do not have the right to tell someone else what they should or should not be offended by. This is not rocket science.
Reggie
Ok then, in your estimate, how many people have to be offended by something in order for it to be changed? 1, 10, 1,000,000? A majority? 50.1%?
You see, even with Redskins, they've taken polls of Native Americans, and a vast majority like the name and are not offended, they see it as honorable.
So, I ask again, how many people need to consider something to be offensive? An while are all these white progressive libs have their panties in a wad over that name?
I identify by culture/ethnicity. I am not AA or Hispanic but am of African descent. Negro/black is simplistic, and the product of slavery & colonialism. No thanks to both.
I don't recall ever using that word- and wonder when and if it would be appropriate. In addressing people, I'll say "excuse me, Miss, Ma'am, Mister, Sir, etc." race, ethnicity, gender doesn't matter to me. I perceive people as human beings, first and foremost.
Now, when describing people to others, there's a variety of physical characteristics one can use - skin color is one, but certainly (to me), is not the most important. I'll refer to them as, for example, the "nice guy we met yesterday who's tall", or the "gal that drives the yellow car", etc. Color/race is usually a few descriptions down on the list.
I DO have a question, though, is it more acceptable today to say "Black" or "African-American", or anything else I may be missing?
Also, yes, as one post mentioned - I do resent being reduced to one of an entire group clustered into the "White" or "Caucasian" category when filling out certain forms. Why? Because inherent in each one of the race classification on these forms is the implicit meaning that certain races may be more privileged or underprivileged than others. I've also personally found these classifications to interfere with my children's acceptance (or not) into certain institutions, most notably, college.
Example- one college admissions counselor I know said they separated the "Asian" applicants from others...not wanting to accept too many (although she found that greater than 80% of them exceeded the scores and other parameters than all of the other applicants at her particular university!), for fear of not being "diverse" enough. Ditto for some of the other races, but in a different light.
I think each and every one of us, independent of race, has our own "story" and life conditions that don't fall into the stereotyped or stratified "mold" of race anymore. Perhaps a more accurate description would be to include one's socio-economic living conditions or other descriptions, to further clarify, in addition to race. Or, exclude the entire race line of questioning all together!
Relating this to my own personal story, I would have been more accurate checking the box (if it existed) for "European- Eastern", and "X" generation-American, because of the time spent living in Europe, and being raised in a "European -values" household, 1st generation. Add to that was that our socio-economic living conditions which certain weren't the "stereotyped white privilege".
So, there's SO much more power and meaning behind a single word...and it could mean an endless variety of different things to different people. Context IS or should be part of it. ~thanks, Dandi
My dad used the term "negro" all the time, but not in an offensive way.
-"Honey, I've invited Tony from work to have Thanksgiving with us. Nobody should spend Thanksgiving alone."
-"Which Tony? The Italian?"
-"No, the Negro"
-"Oh, good. I like him."
Still backward though. One person is regarded by their ethnicity/culture and the other is only seen by color.
If you are a white conservative, claiming that you have black friends is considered proof by liberals that you are "racist".
If you weren't doing anything that forced you to have to make such claims, you wouldn't have any reason to worry about it.
You'd only be claiming how many black friends you have as a reaction to doing or saying something stupid on your part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kracer
Ah the slippery slope in action.
The least probable projected behavior does not an offensive word make.
Just keep following the rules that you've been following up to this point. No need to make waves. You haven't been saying Negro, so don't worry about why you can't say it now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kracer
"Yes, it's the Spanish word for black, but you're not Hispanic."
So the sanitization of the language begins. Eliminate all words in common usage from other languages.
I imagine some will not be satisfied until petroglyphs repalce language.
No one shall use or learn the language of a race or ethnicity that is not genetically their own.
Each 'gang' shall have proprietary code words not to be spoken by other tribes or gangs under social justice penalty.
Negro isn't offensive, it is the color black in Spanish. I watch lucha libre and there have been several luchadors using the name such as Abismo Negro, Negro Casas and Sin Cara Negro.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So much more meaning behind a word!
